Intermale fighting and predatory behavior in house mice: An analysis of behavioral content

Two forms of aggression, intermale and predatory, wwere compared on the basis of behavioral content. Male wild mice were presented with opponents of two types, nonaggressive male mice and crickets, and the amounts of time spent in each of 18 behaviors were recorded. Results from analyses of variance and principal components analyses indicated that the structure of behavioral content differs greatly for intermale fighting and predatory behavior. It was, therefore, concluded that the integrated patterns of beahvior were controlled by separate mechanisms for predatory versus intermale aggression.     

Catecholamines in predatory behavior: A review and critique

A variety of strategies have been employed in assessing the role of catecholamines (CA) in predatory behavior; the results of these various approaches are reviewed. While it remains difficult to ascribe a single biologically significant role to CA at this time, this may at least in part reflect measurement considerations, problems in the widely varying experimental models, pharmacologic side effects, and failures to categorically distinguish the differing contributions of individual CA systems in the control of predation. The potential role of such factors in determining the outcome of an experiment are reviewed and possible functional contributions of CA systems are suggested.     

Relationship between attack and feeding in the insect predatory behavior of grasshopper mice

In grasshopper mice, the consequences of feeding and state of hunger affect the predatory attack to a limited extent. The purpose of this study was: (1) to establish other ways that attack and feeding were connected besides the two effects already mentioned; and (2) to determine if caching of dead prey could account for the limited connection between attack and feeding. Experiment 1 showed that attack and feeding were connected as part of a reaction chain. Experiment 2 showed that both shared a common maturational process despite the fact that each response achieved an improved efficiency in a different way. Experiment 3 showed that caching prey was not correlated with the killing of a prey and thus could not account for the limited connection between attack and feeding. It is proposed that a highly canalized attack response specifically buffered against the effects of feeding and hunger plays an important role in the mouse's carnivorous life style.     

Food deprivation: Effects on the predatory behavior of southern grasshopper mice (Onychomys torridus)

The southern grasshopper mouse (Onychomys torridus) is a predatory and aggressive rodent native to the semi-arid scrub deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Its natural diet consists primarily of arthropods and small vertebrates. In this study, we have evaluated the effects of food deprivation on the predatory behavior of adult male and female grasshopper mice to crickets (Acheta domesticus) and laboratory mice (Mus musculus). Subjects that were food-deprived for 48 hours spent more time eating dead but not living crickets than did controls that were provided free access to laboratory chow. There were no sex differences in the predatory behavior of grasshopper mice to living or dead crickets. Food deprivation also influenced the predatory behavior of grasshopper mice toward laboratory mice. With laboratory chow available ad lib, 6 of 43 (14%) male and 22 of 45 (49%) female grasshopper mice killed and ate laboratory mice within 48 hours of pairing. When deprived of food for 48 hours, 16 of 36 (44%) males and 15 of 19 (79%) females that did not kill in the previous experiment killed and ate laboratory mice. We concluded that food deprivation and type of prey are two variables which influence the frequency and intensity of predatory behaviors of grasshopper mice.     

The behavioral bases of prolonged suppression of predatory attack in cats

The behavioral differences between rat-killing cats and non-rat killers were investigated. Killers and non-killers were found to fall at opposite ends of a continuum of predisposition to respond defensively to a variety of environmental threats. Non-killers were most defensive, displaying aggressive-defensive predatory attacks in contrast to the aggressive attacks of killers. The data support the hypothesis that suppression of killing among non-rat killers is the result of an enhanced sensitivity to external threat.     

Effects of D- and L-amphetamine on the predatory behavior of Southern grasshopper mice,onychomys torridus

Adult male and female southern grasshopper mice (Onychomys torridus) were tested for predatory aggression toward cricket prey 1 hr after single injections of d-amphetamine (1 or 10 mg/kg) or 1-amphetamine (1 or 10 mg/kg). At the lower dose, d-amphetamine decreased feeding behaviors, while I-amphetamine altered attack-related behaviors. At the higher dose, both stereoisomers appeared to be equipotent in significantly decreasing 5 measures of predatory aggression. These results suggest that brain dopamine and norepinephrine play important roles in the regulation of predatory aggression of Onychomys torridus.     

Some effects of noncontingent positive reinforcement on multiply controlled problem behavior and compliance in a demand context

Functional analysis suggested that the problem behavior of an 8-year-old girl with autism was maintained by escape from demands and access to edible items. Noncontingent delivery of an edible item was sufficient to increase compliance and reduce the rate of problem behavior without the use of escape extinction in a demand context. Leaner and richer schedules of noncontingent reinforcement were equally effective, and there were minimal differences between noncontingent reinforcement and differential reinforcement of compliance.     

Some sequential aspects of IRTs emitted during Sidman-avoidance behavior in the white rat,

This study investigated some of the serial patterns among interresponse times during Sidman avoidance. It was found that the momentary probability of a response was determined by the length of exposure to the avoidance procedure during a session, by the time since the last shock, and by the duration of the preceding IRT.     

Eliminating the battering of women by men: Some considerations for behavior analysis

Based on review of representative literature, history and current research indicate that battering by male partners is a major health problem for women. Use of physical aggression and verbal coercion can be described by three-term contingencies involving escape, avoidance, punishment, and positive reinforcement. These contingencies occur within societal practices, rules, and models that involve oppression of women and insubstantial consequences for men who batter. The difficulties in directly observing a couple's interactions and their aggression have been a methodological barrier to the involvement of behavior analysts in treatment of and research on domestic violence. Recommendations are made for behavior analysts to contribute to reducing battering through development and analysis of program components and application of contingency management and behavioral training technology.     

The neural basis of prolonged suppression of predatory attack. I. Naturally occurring physiological differences in the limbic systems of killer and non-killer cats

The epileptic excitability of the basolateral amygdala was found to correlate with differences in predatory and defensive predisposition of rat-killing cats and non-rat killers. The threshold for elicitation of afterdischarge (ADT) in the amygdalas of rat killers was higher than the ADTs of non-rat killers. Furthermore, non-rat killers with the lowest ADTs had the weakest attack tendencies and were most sensitive to a variety of environmental threats in addition to those posed by prey. These differences in excitability were not found in control areas lateral to the amygdala or in the ventral hippocampus. The possibility that ADT is a behaviorally relevant measure of a long-term predatory suppression function of the amygdala is discussed.     

Effect of the good behavior game on disruptive library behavior

A modification of the good behavior game was used to reduce disruptive behaviors during a weekly library period of children in a fourth-grade class. Modifications included student input in designing rules, attempts to state rules in positive terms, observation of class behavior in the experimental (library) setting as well as in a comparison (classroom) setting, and librarian involvement in instituting the game coupled with teacher involvement in delivering reinforcers. Reinforcers consisted of special classroom activities conducted by the teacher with winning team members. Modification of the good behavior game did not detract from its effectiveness in reducing disruptive and off-task behavior.     

Relating different perspectives on how outcomes of behavior influence behavior

Many researchers have tackled the question of how behavior is influenced by its outcomes. Some have adopted a nonmechanistic (functional) perspective that attempts to describe the influence of outcomes on behavior. Others have adopted a mechanistic (cognitive) perspective that attempts to explain the influence of outcomes on behavior. Orthogonal to this distinction, some have focused on the influence of outcomes that a behavior had in the past, whereas others also consider the influence of outcomes that a behavior might have in the future. In this article, we relate these different perspectives with the goal of reducing misunderstandings and fostering collaborations between researchers who adopt different perspectives on the common question of how behavior is influenced by its outcomes.     

Effects of preweaning predatory or consummatory experience and litter size on cricket predation in northern grasshopper mice (Onychomys leucogaster)

Preweaning exposure to cricket killing and consumption, but not consumption alone, facilitated postweaning cricket predation. This facilitatory effect did not result from kill-sharing by the parents or from food competition among the offspring. The results were strongly influenced by litter size. Small litters (N = 3–4) were strongly facilitated in all measures of predatory behavior when compared to litters of five to six mice. Since smaller litters of this species also show much higher levels of play behavior, it is suggested that play frequency may strongly facilitate later predatory behavior.     

Verbal behavior

The recent history and current status of the area of verbal behavior are considered in terms of three major thematic lines: the operant conditioning of adult verbal behavior, learning to be an effective speaker and listener, and developments directly related to Skinner's Verbal Behavior. Other topics not directly related to the main themes are also considered: the work of Kurt Salzinger, ape-language research, and human operant research related to rule-governed behavior.